Future orientation of managers and impact on organizational performance

This study investigates the impact of individual future orientation of strategic managers on corporate future oriented behavior and corporate performance. The concept of ?future orientation? as the focus of this study refers to Confucian dynamism as incorporated by Hofstede et al (1990) as the fifth dimension in culture studies, later termed ?long term versus short term orientation? by Hofstede and Soeters (2002).Hambrick and Mason (1984) proposed that strategic choices at the upper echelons of organizations were related to characteristics of upper echelon managers, which consequently would impact organizational performance. In similar line, Hambrick (1989) proposed that strategic leadership would influence organizational performance, and characteristics of strategic leaders such as age, educational background, socio-economic background, knowledge, skill and abilities, personality, values and cognitive styles would influence their leadership styles.The non-factual part of the data for this study were collected by mailing a survey questionnaire to 341 corporations listed in Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB) from among top 500 Turkish companies as of the end of 2007. A total of 212 managers from 48 corporations responded, where 188 of such managers were senior managers who would qualify ?strategic managers? in Hambrick?s (1989) naming. On the other hand, the factual data on corporate financial performance and corporate future oriented behavior indicators such as making investments and setting aside reserves were collected from the disclosed 2004-2007 balance sheets of the companies.Managers were generally found to display moderate levels of individual future orientation, optimism and internal locus of control, moderate-to-high levels of proactive personality. Uncertainty avoidance was observed in Turkish managers above the international mean affirming the earlier findings (Hofstede, 1980). Levels of proactive personality and internal locus of control went up by the rise in the management echelons. As proactive personality and optimism in managers went up in managers, their future orientation also went up. Further, there seemed to exist a significant positive relation between the management echelons and individual future orientation of managers.It was found in this study that future oriented corporate activities and ?individual future orientation? of manages influenced corporate performance strongly and positively.Key words1. Strategic management2. Strategic manager3. Future orientation4. Corporate performance.